"The demand for such spaces on the ground floor of office buildings, with street visibility, is increasing and we have fewer and fewer such locations, with areas of over 500 sqm, which lend themselves to a premium furniture showroom. In 2023 and 2024, furniture retailers competed for the ground floor of office buildings with proximity stores, such as Froo, Mega Image, restaurants, cafes, optical centers such as Lensa, travel agencies, bookstores or new perfumery brands such as My Geisha," Nicolae Ciobanu Managing Partner - Head of Advisory at Fortim Trusted Advisors, member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance.

Location is another important aspect for retailers who are in search of office space in prime locations. In the northern part of Bucharest, on the Bucharest-Ploiesti Road, a center of furniture stores has been created that has chosen this solution; among the retailers that have opened stores in this area are Insignis, Rovere Mobili, The Home and Cioata.

The Bucharest Business Park, chosen by Insignis, is in the northern part of Bucharest, close to the Bucharest - Ploiesti street, near the Press House. The office complex has a total of four buildings, with a total leasable area of 24,500 square meters, and its tenants include companies such as BAT and Heidelberg. Amenities include generous green spaces and the Stradale restaurant on the ground floor.

Which retail tenants prefer the ground floor of office buildings

The most active retailers renting space in office buildings are food and Horeca, who are looking for between 70 sqm and 300 sqm. On the other hand, the largest spaces are requested by furniture stores, which rent showrooms between 600 and 5,000 sqm.

"Online shopping has increased, but Romanians continue to be interested in the shopping experience in physical stores, especially when it comes to products that are purchased in the long term. That's why many of the retailers present online are looking to offer customers personalized shopping experiences by paying special attention to direct interaction, for a better understanding of their individual preferences and needs," says Bianca Batin, Office Consultant, Fortim Trusted Advisors, member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance.

FORTIM Trusted Advisors, member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance in Romania, is a real estate consulting company founded in 2002, managed by Costin Nistor, Bogdan Cange and Nicolae Ciobanu since December 2020. The company offers real estate consulting services in the office segment, retail, industrial & logistics, valuations, capital markets, research, but also Property Management and Project Management services. In the area of ​​Property Management, the company manages over 100,000 square meters of office, retail, and industrial space. Among the most important recurring clients of FORTIM Trusted Advisors are Morgan Stanley, Add Value Management, Indotek, Kesz and First Property Asset Management. Also, in the office segment, the company handled the trading of spaces for Reckit Benkiser, Renault, Fortech, Grohe, Credius, OLX Group, Multinode Network, AHI Carrier, AVL, UMT Software, Future Electronics, The Home or Bioderma.